Well, my dear juniors, it is just 6 days left towards this all important event in RVCO's activities. The rehearsal yesterday was fine..and I could see that many of you were pumped up, excited, and yet fearful of the possibility of performing on stage and the even greater possibility(so percieved) of screwing up your notes, dynamics or whatsoever. No doubt, this has led to frustration, disappointment and saddness in teachers, students and instructors alike. A more common teenage term for such a phase in time would be the appropriate use of the teenage slang word emo, which I shall duely use here. Indeed, as the pressure mounts, it will be both a fun and emo time for us all at RVCO. The alumni are equally worried, and we hope to see all of you juniors put on a spectacular performance, worthy of acclaim and worthy of what we always think is most important..that all of you have tried your best. I personally believe that..as long as RVCO members try their best, the music will sound good.

So..reflections on yesterday's rehearsal. It may not be an accurate gauge of the music we make on the day itself, but there are definitely areas where we can improve on, where standards can be raised. As I confess myself not to be a guanyue or percussion player or having musical/technical experience in all areas of a chinese orchestra, I shall focus my reflections on what we performers like to call stage flair..or in this case for CO...台风. Mr Wong's lame joke nonwithstanding, it does not mean a typhoon. Tai feng in this case mean stage flair. In other words, its where the PERFORMANCE part of an orchestra comes into play. We call this concert a musical performance. Well, we have certainly got the musical part, but our performance needs much improvement. While RVCO have had tai feng training in the past, I do not believe it will really work effectively, until you all know the feelings and emotions behind each song; what each part, each dynamic, each melody is supposed to represent. Then you can sway your body, move and emote accordingly the feelings required. This will help in technical skills as well, as it would lead to an improved understanding of dynamics. You certainly can't play loud and harsh in a part you know is supposed to evoke feelings of saddness and guilt. This is why, RVCO, needs to improve on tai feng. It is after all a musical performance.

I end with a reference to my starting quote. "There is only one thing better than music-live music". A musical performance must include performance. Otherwise, we can just play, cut it into a CD and sell it. But that's not what people want! They come because they want to see how we react to the music, how we touch the audience! That's why..our live music is better than music! So my juniors, do your Tai Feng well and practice hard for Zhi Yin IV.